Almost There
by randomAnon
Summary: The Seidou baseball team heads for Koshien, but things take a turn for the worst. Will it be the end for our pitcher? [MiyuSawa] [Oneshot]


**A/N** : This is a one shot. MiyuSawa. This story has no relation to the story line.

* * *

 **Almost There**

"Kaaaaaaa..." A cheerful blinking pitcher peaked his head around the door into the third year's classroom. "...zuya" drawing out the first syllable of the catcher's name and quickly ending with the last two, his eyes searched for the person he called. The room was empty, but in the corner, there was the lingering soul of the catcher, who was wrapping up on cleaning duty.

"Eijun..." Miyuki looked behind him as he put the broom and pan into the cabinet. "Shouldn't you be at practise?" the catcher asked curiously.

" I was on cleaning duty today and just finished...I just came to see if you wanted to go walk together to practise." the pitcher pouted. He glared around Miyuki's classroom and turned his back to the catcher.

"I guess you're still busy. See ya." Sawamura stated bluntly and started walking away.

"Eijun! Waaait!" Miyuki shouted as he haphazardly ran after the pitcher, flicking off the lights and clumsily shutting the door in his wake. Miyuki ran up behind the younger pitcher and wrapped his arm around the pitcher's shoulders, pulling the now blushing teen against him.

"Come on Eijun...you're not mad at me are you?" Miyuki whispered into the pitcher's ears.

As Sawamura was about to retort, Miyuki planted his lips atop the pitcher's. Stunned and melting away in his current position, everything became a blur to him as he leaned in for a deeper kiss. To his dismay, the next thing that registered in his mind was a catcher running away.

"Hurry up! We're already late for practice." Miyuki shouted back at the gawking pitcher.

"Kazuya!" Sawamura shouted as he ran after the catcher.

As Miyuki ran, a smile crept unto his face. _'Ahhh Eijun...still blushing from a little hug and kiss...what can I do with you...'_ Miyuki pondered as the flood gates of dirty thoughts were unlocked within his mind. He started to chuckle weirdly as Sawamura ran beside him staring at the catcher.

 _'Creep...'_ Sawamura thought before deciding to ignore the catcher.

It was only two months ago that Miyuki had confessed to the pitcher. At first, Sawamura didn't believe what he had hear, so he completely ignored Miyuki for a good couple weeks. Miyuki on the other hand, felt dejected during the two weeks of silence. Upon confession, his feelings were not reciprocated, causing the usually high and might Miyuki to plummet back down to earth. Of course, all feelings of dejection were swept away by Sawamura revisiting the topic and confirming what he had hear was real. The vividness of the memory still fluttered around the catcher's mind, as he encapsulated the memory in a clear orb nestled in the centre of his mind. That was the happiest moment of his life.

Since then, both had been playing around for dominance in the relationship. It was a game of tug of war, but the other would eventually bend and cave in, especially Miyuki. Sawamura had his adorable looks, his puppy dog eyes and his pouts that Miyuki would melt all over. Miyuki on the other hand, his ultimate weapon against Sawamura was his charm and witty mind; he knew what to say, he knew how to deal his cards, he was able to mold Sawamura in the palm of his hands.

The two eventually joined the rest of the baseball team in practise. The other members were clueless about their relationship, duly so as they wanted to keep it that way. The secret, the forbidden yaoi-ness, the exhilaration they felt on the prospect of getting caught. Both loved it all.

"About time you love birds!"

"How coincident that the battery pair had cleaning duty together."

Shouts were heard across the field as Miyuki and Sawamura ran to the bullpen. The battery pair just smirked at the comments as they knew no one in the team could have guess how close the statements were to the truth.

On arrival at the bullpen, Miyuki positioned himself readying to catch some pitches, but Sawamura stood near the catcher.

"Eijun...you ok?" Miyuki asked curiously as he looked up at the hesitant pitcher. "Don't tell me...you don't want to pitch?!" Miyuki gawked in a teasing voice.

"Of course not!" Sawamura paused a bit before continuing.

"Kazuya...you know it'd be great if...well if you and I can win the Koshien this year..." Sawamura shyly said.

"What? Of course we'll win!" Miyuki retorted in confidence giving the pitcher a big smile.

"Whhyy? Are you getting cold feet? Is the almighty southpaw getting scared?" Miyuki gave a snide smirk. "Maybe we should have Furuya pitch for all the games, huh?" the catcher nudged the pitcher.

"WHAT?! No! I'm not scared! It's just...it's your last year and...and I just wanted to win the last game of your high school baseball...together..." the pitcher had a hard time saying what was deep within his heart. He wanted to pitch the last game with Miyuki and to win the finals with the catcher, the one he loved.

"Together..." Miyuki whispered in deep contemplation trying to registering the word in his mind. He looked up at the blushing pitcher, who jump slightly once Miyuki's gaze fell upon him. The younger teen quickly turned his head away and jogged to the other side of the bullpen.

"Of course we'll win...TOGETHER!" Miyuki shouted. _'He's so cute when he's like this...'_ Miyuki swooned over the embarrassed pitcher from across the bullpen. His gaze was fixated on the pitcher, who was looking downwards, playing with the baseball in his glove and kicking dirt around with his feet. The pitcher was obviously trying to avoid the scrutinizing gaze.

 _'Kaaazuuyaaa...Stop staring at me like that...'_ Sawamura could feel the catcher's stare fixated on him. _'I shouldn't have said that...'_

"You better start pitching if you want to win Koshien..." Miyuki shouted across the bullpen, causing the pitcher to immediately snap out of his ashamed muse.

Practice went by as usual, Sawamura's pitches were exceptionally sharp as he was pumped and keen on achieving his goal. The Koshien was just around the corner, so he wanted to use every living moment to its fullest.

Weeks flew by and before they knew it, they were facing off against other schools, fighting towards the finals. Seidou won their games, some with difficulty, some with ease. They progressed well and was now facing off in the semi-final match.

The sweltering heat beamed down upon the students in the vast baseball field. The full sunlight pressured the players in its glorious dominating shine. The game was in the bottom of the ninth inning, Seidou was winning by one point, 8-7, and they were defending. Three strikeouts was all that separated Seidou from advancing to the finals.

Furuya was the starting pitcher, but it was a shaky start. Luckily the batters reclaimed the lost points. By the sixth inning, it was evident that Furuya was tired. Sawamura had started the previous game, so the coach had Kawakami go in, whom held up well.

But alas, nothing came easy. On the ninth inning, Kawakami was distraught after he let three batters onto base. They were in a dire situation as a grounder could tie the game. To top off the situation, it was the cleanup batter up at bat.

"Sawamura." the coach called out.

"YES GENERAL!" Sawamura stood up straight facing the coach.

"Can you pitch?"

The pitcher vehemently nodded his head. It was another chance and his eyes shone with brightness at the opportunity.

"Go warm up."

"YES!" Sawamura quickly ran and started warming up.

Kawakami began to pitch, but fear of being hit caused him to throw a ball. Miyuki called time out and quickly ran up to the distraught pitcher.

"Nori...are you ok?" Miyuki asked in concern.

The pitcher was sweating, fear was evident in his eyes, but he nodded.

"Don't think too much, just give me your best throw." Miyuki then ran back to the home plate, positioning himself for the next pitch.

"BALL THREE!" the umpire called as Kawakami threw an additional two balls. Seidou was now at 0-3 with bases loaded.

Miyuki got up and was about to walk to Kawakami, but was interrupted by a shout.

"Pitcher change." The coach called as Sawamura started to head up to the mound.

Upon reaching the mound, the southpaw could see the distraught in Kawakami's eyes.

"Sorry..." Kawakami whispered as he dropped the ball into Sawamura's mitt.

"Don't worry Nori-sempai! We're going to win this!" Sawamura gave a big smile as his eyes burned with a competitive flame . The southpaw stood on the mound and gave an intense glare towards the forth batter. Pulling his arm back, he began his wind up and threw the ball.

"STRIKE" the umpire yelled as the ball made a solid contact with Miyuki's mitt.

The catcher smirked in triumph as he saw the batter take a step back. The pitch had worked. The sharpness, the angle of throw, it all came together and had rattled the cleanup hitter. Miyuki knew he now had control.

 _'That's the way Eijun...just keep this up...'_ Miyuki thought as he looked at the pitcher who was screaming energetically atop the mound. _'He's a baka...but a cute baka...'_ Miyuki thought before he threw the ball back to his battery counterpart.

Sawamura stared at the ball in his mitt, took a deep breath and went for another throw.

"STRIKE TWO!"

"YOSH YOSH YOSH!" Sawamura shouted again, causing the crowd to erupt in screams and laughter. The momentum was now on Seidou's side, Sawamura had changed the situation completely as his energy emanated outwards towards all the players surrounding him.

The last pitch was an inner ball, which caught the batter off guard. It was executed perfectly.

"STRIKE THREE, BATTER OUT!" The fourth batter was gone, tension lessened, but Seidou was still in a bad situation. However, the next batter came up and left equally as fast. Sawamura was on a roll as he got six consecutive strikeouts even though there was immense pressure from a bases loaded situation.

It was down to the last batter, one more strike out was all that was needed for Seidou to advance to the finals.

 _'Let's do this Eijun...'_ Miyuki smirked as he positioned his glove to where he wanted the ball. _'...Let's go to the finals and win...'_

Sawamura took a deep breath and threw the ball towards the mitt. *PING* the batter made contact. The pitcher froze as he watched the ball.

"FOUL" the umpire shouted as the ball flew behind Miyuki. The catcher tried to catch it but was unable to do so. Cursing under his breath on not being able to end the game there and then, the catcher went to get another ball.

Miyuki threw the ball back to Sawamura, who caught it and walked back to the centre of the mound. Sawamura took a deep breath and prepared to throw again. Pulling his arm back and flinging it outwards, the ball started its projected route.

 _'Perfect Eijun!'_ Miyuki praised inwardly as the ball flew exactly how he wanted, but alas, fate didn't have it the way they wanted.

*PING* The batter choked his bat and swung. The ball instantly flew towards Sawamura, and fast.

The pitcher saw the ball flying towards his face, he quickly raised his glove to catch it, but missed by a millimetre. The next thing everyone saw was the ball hitting the ground and the opponents running for home base.

Sawamura fell onto his knees, took a second to regain his thoughts and heard the shouts to throw the ball home. He stumbled around and found the ball, grasped it with his left hand and threw it towards Miyuki.

Miyuki caught the ball as the incoming runner slid to touch home plate.

A cloud of dust and silence befell the entire stadium. Sawamura was breathing hard, he was on his knees with his hands pressing against the mound. He felt a sharp pain running through his head on where the ball hit him, but he stayed frozen in that position listening for the verdict.

 _'Please be out...'_ he prayed as he knew he was in no condition on continuing the game if it was tied, let alone throw another pitch in his current state.

"OUT" the umpire shouted.

The opponents looked devastated, but the Seidou baseball team erupted in ecstasy. All the players in the dugout and field jumped in joy cheering as they ran towards the pitcher's mound.

"Sawamura! You did it!" everyone was yelling praising the pitcher, but oddly, the pitcher had no reaction. He was just static on all fours.

As Miyuki got closer, he saw a pool of red liquid slowly soaking into the sand on the pitcher's mound. He quickly ran and knelt down next to the pitcher.

"EIJUN! ARE YOU HURT? Did the ball hit you on your head? You're bleeding!" Miyuki shouted as he tilted the pitcher's head upwards.

Miyuki's face turned pale, his heart sank and his breathing stopped as the injury came into his sight. Not long after, the pitcher collapsed from the immense pain he felt.

"EIJUN!" Miyuki shouted as he cradled the unconscious pitcher in his arms.

"Someone, call an ambulance!"

The next thing the pitcher saw was the white ceiling of a room. Sawamura opened his eye, the sunlight caused him to wince from the sudden brightness. Suddenly, a sharp pain surged through his face.

"Ouch..." Sawamura cried, causing Miyuki and his parents to immediately put their attention to him.

"Eijun! Don't move, you were injured." Sawamura's mother spoke as she placed a hand on the her son's shoulders.

"You're ok now son." Sawamura's dad spoke as he held onto his son's hand.

"What's happening..." Sawamura asked while being half conscious.

"The baseball hit your left eye, you were injured..." Miyuki meekly spoke after seeing that neither of Sawamura's parents had the heart to say anything.

"Am I...going to be ok?" Sawamura asked cautiously after noticing the somber atmosphere.

"Y-y-yeah..." Miyuki said with uncertainty. Shortly after, the pitcher passed out again.

It had been a few days, the doctor had dropped in multiple times to check up on Sawamura's eye and the concussion he got.

The pitcher had always been reassured about his recovery and that he shouldn't worry, so being Sawamura, he showed a positive outlook on the situation. A nurse would come once a day to rebandage the pitcher's eye.

Although in slight pain, especially when the painkillers were wearing off, the pitcher would wander around the hospital. Over the few days he's been there, he became friends with most of the people on his floor. He especially loved visiting the kids. He decided to drop by the playroom that afternoon during his stroll around the hospital. Upon entry into the room, he was greeted joyously.

"Sawa-onii-chan!" all the kids shouted as they dropped everything and ran up to hug him.

"Now now kids, don't play too rough, onii-chan is injured..." the nurse warned as she smiled at the pitcher before heading out of the room.

"Please read us a story!" a little girl shouted as the rest of the kids nodded in agreement. The kids loved how Sawamura would get into character with exaggerated movements and weird voices while reading. Sawamura on the other hand loved the reaction he got from the kids and of course at the opportunity to goof off.

It was well into the afternoon, Miyuki dropped by immediately after class. He knew the pitcher would be somewhere not in his room, so he wandered around until he saw sight of Sawamura in the playroom. Miyuki quietly walked into the room and watched the pitcher read. He chuckled on occasion as he observed the pitcher and kids' reactions. Not long after Sawamura finished the story, Miyuki walked over next to the pitcher.

"Hey kids. It's my turn to have Sawa-chan." Miyuki called out as he hugged Sawamura.

"Ewwwwwwwww..." the kids yelled in unison as they saw Miyuki place a kiss on Sawamura's cheeks.

"Ka-ka-zuya! Not here..." Sawamura shouted in a whisper as his face glowed red.

The battery pair said their goodbyes to the kids and headed back towards Sawamura's room. On their way back, both heard Sawamura's parents talking to the doctor. Miyuki was about to step out and make their presence known, but Sawamura stopped the catcher.

 _'Oh great...'_ Miyuki thought.

"How's Eijun's eye looking?" a concerned mother asked.

"He'll probably be able to see something, but it'll just be a blur. I'm sorry...there's nothing we can do..." the doctor said.

Sawamura and Miyuki stood on the other side of the wall listening.

"Eijun..." Miyuki whispered, unsure what to say.

Sawamura then turned to Miyuki and gave a big grin.

"What's up? Why do you look so worry...it's not like I won't be able to play baseball anymore, I still have one more eye." Sawamura smiled as he stated his thoughts, but deep down, he was unsure if he could continue baseball as a career. _'Why am I even thinking of that...I'm probably not even good enough as a pitcher to make it into the professionals.'_

"Yeah, you'll still be able to play..." Miyuki said.

The two walked silently back to Sawamura's room, Miyuki was intently monitoring the younger teen's reaction.

"Are you really ok Eijun? You can tell me..." Miyuki said in attempt to gauge the pitcher's state of mind.

"Of course, as long as I can play, I'll be fine. Plus, don't you think I was cool in our last game?!" Sawamura excitedly said.

Miyuki chuckled and nodded, but Miyuki was still uncertain on how the pitcher felt.

As they entered the room, Sawamura's parents were there waiting for them. Everyone spent the next hour talking while Sawamura ate his dinner. Eventually they had to leave as visitation was over.

"We'll see you tomorrow Eijun." Sawamura's parents said as they hugged him and stepped out of the room.

Miyuki, upon seeing that the room was clear, leaned in to give Sawamura a kiss.

"Good night Eijun, see you tomorrow." he said before running out of the room.

Sawamura smiled as he saw everyone leave. He waited for a few minutes, then turned his attention towards a baseball that was sitting on the table. He walked over and grabbed it, went back and sat on top of his bed with his back leaning on the pillow.

Miyuki was at the ground floor when he realised that he had forgotten his bag.

"Sorry, I'm going to go back upstairs to grab my bag. I'll see you both tomorrow?" Miyuki said to Sawamura's parents, whom nodded.

Miyuki ran back upstairs and upon reaching the door to Sawamura's room, he could hear quiet sobs.

He peaked in and saw the pitcher curled up in a ball, head dug into his knees while his arms were wrapped around them. The pitcher sat atop his bed crying and Miyuki knew the reason why. Clutched in the southpaw's hand was a baseball, the same blood stained baseball that won them the game and took away Sawamura's future.

Miyuki walked into the room and wrapped his arms around the pitcher. He could feel Sawamura immediately freeze and attempt to hold his sobs in, but Miyuki reassured the pitcher by whispering words of comfort while warmly embracing the distraught teen.

Sawamura eventually broke down, bawling.

"Ka...kazuya...it's over...*snifff*...I'm not...going to be able to play..." the pitcher was heartbroken. It felt as if his heart was getting ripped in half, he was suffocating and didn't know what to do. The younger teen dug his head into Miyuki's chest and cried out loudly. His tears were soaking into Miyuki's shirt, his screams of agony were being muffled by the catcher's chest.

"...sorry..." the pitcher apologised, causing Miyuki to question the statment.

"...I'm sorry I couldn't keep...our promise...I really...really wanted to win with you...I'm sorry..." the pitcher grasped onto the catcher pulling him in a tighter embrace.

Miyuki tightly embraced the pitcher, digging his head into the crook of Sawamura's neck. He too was crying. The pain he felt was like none other, the pain of seeing the one he loved in this state.

"Eijun, everything's going to be fine. You can still play. I'll be there during your rehab. I'll make sure you can sit with us in the dugout, we'll win Koshien together. Everything's going to be ok..." Miyuki's voice started cracking as slight sobs escaped him.

"Don't worry, I'll be forever with you, by your side. I'll take care of you for the rest of your life. I love you...Eijun...please don't cry... " Miyuki whispered into the crying pitcher's ears.

The pitcher continued crying his heart out well into the night. Miyuki stayed with him for the rest of the day until both fell asleep curled up against one another on the bed.

* * *

"Eijun...seriously?" Miyuki snapped his eyes off the paper he was reading, it was a fanfic that Sawamura wrote.

"Did you like my story?!~" Sawamura excitedly said while leaning in towards Miyuki, eagerly awaiting Miyuki's review.

"You injured yourself..." Miyuki said in distaste, obviously distraught at the fact that what was written in the story could potentially happen.

"Well...it's just a story...plus...you said the perfect things to comfort me!" Sawamura pointed out on the last line of his story.

"Are you a masochist? Hurting yourself in the story just to hear those few sappy words, which I would like to add, I would never say." Miyuki retorted in dismay.

"Whaa...you don't love me?" Sawamura pouted.

"I didn't say that!" Miyuki quickly said and then immediately changed subjects. "Plus...what's this...the forbidden yaoi-ness...are you serious...yaoi-ness? That's not a word..." Miyuki questioned in disbelief.

"What? You understood the meaning...I think it's cute in describing our relationship..." Sawamura tried to defend his choice of words. Miyuki slightly blushed as he heard Sawamura describe their relationship as cute.

"And ha! You make it sound like you can save the entire team in a pinch, you should worry about your control first before pretending you can throw these awesome pitches." Miyuki mocked the pitcher, who shot him a dirty glare.

"And another thing...I do not bend over to you at will..." Miyuki pointed at the paragraph he was referring to.

"I did say that I was being molded by the palms of your hand too...you know you give and take in a relationship...plus...I think you'd be a great uke...I would so bang you..." Sawamura bluntly said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Miyuki immediately blushed at Sawamura's bluntness.

"Oh yeah we'll see who's the uke..." Miyuki contended. "I was hoping you'd add some lemon in your story, but I guess I'll just do it in real life instead." As Miyuki finished off his sentence, he leaned in for a deep kiss, preventing the pitcher from retorting. From there, his hands started to wander around into forbidden areas of the pitcher's body.

* * *

 **A/N** : Yes, the whole story was a story that our pitcher wrote, so he didn't get hurt (if I didn't make it clear enough).

Thanks for reading!


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